The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, who represented Donald Trump during his 2024 criminal trial, has been appointed acting librarian of Congress – leading to a showdown on Capitol Hill after two other appointees were denied entry to one of its buildings.
The Justice Department made the announcement about Blanche on Monday. He replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, who was fired by the White House last week amid criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda.
Two other Trump appointees to the library attempted unsuccessfully to enter the Copyright Office on Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the incident.
Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and senior counsel in Blanche’s office, was named acting assistant librarian, and Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general and veteran Justice Department attorney, is now the acting register of copyrights and director of the Copyright Office – replacing Shira Perlmutter, whom theTrump administrationpushed out last weekend.
Nieves and Perkins were in the hallway outside the Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress and directly across the street from the main building, but could not get in without access to badges, according to the source. After a brief discussion with library officials and US Capitol police, whom the library had contacted, the appointees left voluntarily.
Capitol police said that no one was barred from, or escorted out of, the building and otherwise referred questions back to the Library of Congress.
Senate majority leader John Thune told reporters on Monday that lawmakers are investigating whether Trump has the power to fire the librarian of Congress, who is technically a legislative branch employee.
“We want to make sure congressional equities are respected and protected in this process,” Thune said.
The implications of Trump installing a close ally as librarian of Congress could be far-reaching.
The nonpartisan agency is largely known as the thinktank of Capitol Hill, and provides analyses meant to help lawmakers in the legislative process. But Democrats are already concerned about what kind of information Trump-appointed officials could access in a process that is typically confidential between the Congressional Research Service and lawmakers.
Senior House Democrats on Monday also raised the prospect that data held by the Library of Congress, which holds a vast archive of books and historical documents, could have been improperly transferred to the executive branch, including officials at Trump adviser Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency”.
Unauthorised information sharing “could compromise legislative branch independence and the ability of members of Congress to carry out their constitutional duties,” according to the letter, which was signed by lawmakers including New York representative and Connecticut representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrats on the House Administration and Appropriations committees, respectively. They are asking for an inspector general investigation.
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Since returning to office in January, Trump has removed officials he regards as opposed to him and his Republican agenda. Shortly before her firing, Perlmutter’s office released a highly anticipated report that questioned the legality of the tech industry’s use of copyrighted works to “train” their artificial intelligence systems and compete with the human-made works they were trained on.
The report – despite being marked as “pre-publication” – quickly made waves in legal circles after it was posted online late last week, winning praise from creators who have challenged the tech industry in court, and criticism from a tech industry trade group.
But attention around the report grew after Perlmutter’s firing Saturday, including from Trump’s supporters.
Mike Davis, a lawyer who regularly defends Trump, posted an alarm emoji on social media and warned: “Now tech bros are going to attempt to steal creators’ copyrights for AI profits. This is 100% unacceptable.”
Blanche was named the No 2 Justice Department official after serving as Trump’s criminal defence attorney in two cases brought by the department during Joe Biden’s administration. He is a former federal prosecutor who was a key figure on Trump’s defence team in his New York hush money trial, which ended in a conviction on 34 felony counts.